"Whitney, I think I'm going to have to call your mother so she can take you to the ER really quick." The school nurse, Ms. Jasmine, told me after studying the gash on the palm of my hand.

"That's fair." I agreed. Ms. Jasmine dialed my mother's number and began the short conversation. 

"Now, Whitney, you know I love you more than anything, and you are a very bright young woman," my mom started as we walked out of the school, stringing her words together careful as though she were weighing them on her tongue. "How the hell do you manage to bust yourself up before noon on the first day?"

"I'll tell you in the car." I sighed.

"What happened?" She asked  the instant both of our doors were shut. 

"I was competing against this new kid, Jesse, in a game during Biology and I caught my hand on something under my desk." I explained, of course leaving out the fact that Jesse had piqued my interest that morning.

"Jesse?" I could almost hear the smile on her face. "Tell me everything."

"I sit next to him in my first few classes." 

"Okay. Is he cute?" Mom asked, beginning the drive to the urgent care. I avoided the question as best I could, relief washing over my face when my phone vibrated with a text message.

Unknown: Are you okay? It's Jesse.
Me: Yes. I'll be back for lunch.

"Whitney, please don't text while I'm talking to you." Mom said in a calm though firm tone.

"It's Jesse." I told her, knowing that the fact would quickly change her mind.

"Great! Tell him to send a picture of himself." She said quickly, voice willed with excitement.

"Mom, no. Absolutely not." I said with a hasty shake of my head. "How about I just describe him."

"Please" She nodded. "But take a selfie with him when you can."

"Yes ma'am." I nodded. "He has blond hair, brown or hazel eyes, and he's a senior."

"How tall is he?" She asked, waving her hand indignantly at a stupid driver. 

"He is about the same height as Kevin." I told her.

"Oh, I like Kevin's height." She smiled.

"Okay, Mom." I laughed as we pulled into the parking lot. It was fairly empty, which luckily meant that we were not in the waiting room for very long. At most, it took an hour to get the stitches done. The paperwork was done swiftly, so they sent us on our way. I got back in time for lunch, just like I had promised Jesse.

"Dude, what happened to you?" Kevin asked with a raised brow after I found our table through the crowd and sat down Jesse, Lexi, and Andy were all already there.

"I slapped the razor-headed man right across the face." I grinned. 

"Did you really?" Kevin asked with a confused look on his face. He excels in his Foreign Language classes, but the one language he simply cannot get a hang of is the language of sarcasm.

"It's a big day! First day of senior year!" Lexi said in a shrill squeal as she snapped a selfie of the five of us.

"Lex, can you please send that to me?" I whispered in  her ear. She nodded and sent it onto our group chat, which did not yet include Jesse. Just moments later, she snapped her head up from the contents of her phone and beckoned somebody to the table. It was the guy she had pointed out earlier.

"Landon, this is Whitney, Kevin, Andy, and Jesse." She introduced us all when he sat down beside her.

"Lexi, you animal." I snickered. Jesse, who was sitting to the right of Lexi, shot me a grin. Just then, Kevin texted me. He was sitting to my left and Lexi to my right. Andy was on Jesse's right and Landon was on the other side of the table from us. 

Kevin: Are you and Jesse going to date?
Me: I have known him for like five hours.
Kevin: You got a ballpark answer?
Me: No.
Kevin: No you're not gonna date him or no you don't have a ballpark time?

I placed my phone face-down on the table and shoved my friend. I've been friends with him longer than anyone at the table. We met in the sixth grade, threw a football to each other during the recess periods of seventh and eighth grade, and were completely inseparable until we expanded our group.

"Gingey, you got stitches?" Andy peer over at me. Gingey is a nickname he had come up for me on account of my red hair. Original, I know.

"Yes, Andrew, I got stitches." I said with a roll of my eyes. I typically followed "Gingey" with his lengthened name.

"I bet you cried." Lexi joked, nudging me with her elbow.

"I don't know, I mean, she stuck around until I won the game." Jesse told them all smugly, stirring a reaction from my friends and a wide-eyed looked from Kevin.

"Yeah, by one point!" I said, standing up indignantly. Lexi took my arm and pulled me down into my seat.